The new comparative economics focuses on individual institutions, rather than considering the economic system as an entity. In this essay we argue that economic systems should be defined in terms of clusters of complementary or covarying institutions. A cluster analysis of OECD countries, using...

Per capita gambling expenditures differ considerably among industrialized nations. Although such variation cannot be understood by reference to standard economic factors, a large part of these differences can be explained by two cultural variables. These are respectively related to the...

This essay focuses on two questions: How do the current economic systems and institutions of Islamic nations differ from those of other nations at roughly the same stage of economic development? And what is the impact of Islam on the economic and social performance of these nations? Using a...

This essay explores various components of a measure of pretax U.S. family income after adjusting for the size of the family in the U.S. in 1975 and 2000. Using data from the Panel Study on Income Dynamics, an important stylized fact is revealed: The rising inequality of property incomes,...

This essay tests Milton Friedman’s conjecture that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. For the decade around 2000 indices of the degree of capitalism and the degree of political freedom are highly correlated and provide plausibility for Friedman’s conjecture. In...

This essay attempts a quantitative evaluation of the extent of governmental regulation of industry in 21 OECD nations, using several business surveys as a data base. Employing this experimental measure, the essay then explores quantitatively three questions: Is government ownership complementary...

Drawing from a commercial database seldom used by economists, this note provides aggregate statistics for four dimensions of the worldwide explosion of industrial mergers: the overall volume, the median and average size of mergers, sectoral composition of mergers, and the countries where these...

This essay attempts a quantitative evaluation of the extent of governmental regulation of industry in 21 OECD nations, using several business surveys as a data base. Employing this experimental measure, the essay then explores quantitatively three questions: Is government ownership complementary...